I guess Dogecoin is the blue-collar cryptocurrency, because now (via Reddit) it’s a NASCAR sponsor. Jordan Bianci for SB Nation:
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Have you heard of Dogecoin, the latest Internet sensation that is now a NASCAR team sponsor? If you haven’t, you’re not alone, as evidenced by the sampling of fans SB Nation spoke with Friday at Talladega Superspeedway.
“I don’t know what this is? Is that something to do with dogs and cats? Because I hate anything that illustrates an obsession with dogs & cats.” — Robert, Geneva, Alabama
… Among the many things Dogecoins have helped support is the Jamaican bobsled team in the most recent Winter Olympics. And this weekend, Dogecoins are sponsoring Josh Wise and his underfunded No. 98 Phil Parsons Racing team.
Like many, Wise hadn’t heard of Dogecoin until a couple of months ago. But his plucky performance in a couple of races — most notably at Bristol Motor Speedway, where he fought to stay on the lead lap racing against some much bigger names — caught the attention of some members of Reddit, an online community where members interact, share, submit and vote for various stories…..
Inspired by Wise’s performance Reddit users decided to take up a collection of Dogecoins to help fund Wise’s team, which most weeks is devoid of sponsorship… Initially, Wise didn’t think anything of it, assuming there was no way enough Dogecoins could be collected to match the equivalent of $55,000, the cost of funding the No. 98 team for a single race.
The money was raised in less than a week…
There are pictures (plus more quotes). And they are hilarious.
srv
RT should sponsor a car in NASCAR, what beer does Adolf Putin drink?
RobertDSC-Power Mac G5 Dual
Funny as hell. Love that.
I still laugh over the doge meme picture that the folks at HHS made regarding Obamacare. Great stuff.
? Martin
Such left turns.
My son is a frequent Redittor and couldn’t quite accept that this had actually happened, so I put on the race and we watched a bit of it. Talladega can be one of the more interesting NASCAR races, particularly during the years when they were doing that completely insane car pairing thing where the rear car would literally help push the front car at 200+ MPH. This year wasn’t very interesting – I don’t find the inevitable big pileup to be a desirable feature of tracks like this.
But it does beg the question – if you can wrap a NASCAR for $55K and get the commentary team to talk it up, why the fuck don’t we see Dem politicians or Healthcare.gov sponsoring a car? $55K is fucking cheap for that kind of visibility.
RobertDSC-Power Mac G5 Dual
It would have to be privately funded. There’s no way the domestic terrorist GOP would approve such a thing though the appropriations process. They’d approve ads for the military, but nothing else.
ulee
this all sucks…it’s very depressing. All i can do is listen to dylan and rem. If you believe they put a man on the moon…..
ulee
I never understood the frequency.
ulee
you said that irony was the shackles of youth oh yeah.
ulee
The west coast has abandoned us. Or maybe they never showed up.
ulee
What the hell am I doing here? I don’t belong here……
ulee
But I’m a creep. I’m a wierdo. Good Lord, this place is Chernobyl.
ulee
I surrender. There’s nothing happening here west of the mississippi.
NotMax
@ulee
Patience, grasshopper.
sharl
Is Jeremy Rifkin still a Big Thing in public discourse? He’s getting interviewed on BBC Hardtalk, and host Stephen Sackur introduced him as prominent economist and futurologist (or something like that). I feel like I’ve grown up with that guy, and since he has about ten years on me, I suppose I have; I think I first heard about him back in the 70s. But I rarely hear or read of him these days, although his Wikipedia bio (first link) indicates he remains an active author. He certainly gave as good as he got with Sackur.
Eh, just wonderin’…
MikeJ
@? Martin:
Gives a new meaning to “crash and burn”.
Remember when candidate Hillary was asked who she was for in the Kentucky Derby? She said, “always bet on the filly.” Then the filly fell, broke a leg, and had to be shot on the track. She hadn’t even put any money into it, just spoke favorably.
ulee
Alright, I’m up. Took the dogs down to the cemetary and got a coffee form Dunkin Junkies. Where is everyone? Anne Laurie should be up at least.
ulee
Top story on CNN is the search for flight 370. I’m in shock.
ulee
Tally of gun deaths during the overnight: the Balloon Juice commenters. RIP all you sweeties.
NotMax
@ulee
Still here. Happy Cinco de Mayo.
BillinGlendaleCA
I’ve been trying to figure out how to root my new camera, my brain hurts from reading XDA.
bago
New Galaxy?
BillinGlendaleCA
@bago: Yup. And Happy Cinco de Mayo all. I’ll be having Korean food tonight in honor of the holiday.
ETA: It’s a Galaxy Camera 2.
Hillary Rettig
Thanks A-L – that brightened my morning!
>”Because I hate anything that illustrates an obsession with dogs & cats.”
The ultimate get-off-my-lawn statement.
Tripod
NASCAR is run like pro wrestling. The results can be quite malleable. They’ll look the other way at tech inspection when a team lands a new sugar daddy (or has one rumored to be leaving).
Not to mention motorsport’s long sordid history with sketchy money sources looking to get washed.
low-tech cyclist
I guess not too many people see ‘Doge’ and immediately think of heads of Italian city-states from the medieval/Renaissance era.
For anyone familiar with Discworld, think Lord Vetinari. The perfect doge.
low-tech cyclist
I still don’t get how Dogecoin funded this race car.
Presumably, people earned real money, bought Dogecoins with it, then contributed them to this racing team, and somewhere along the line they were converted back to real money.
In which case, what did Dogecoin have to do with it, other than being just another online community? It’s not like Dogecoin created the money.
chopper
@ulee:
Jesus, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if they were now saying the plane likely landed in Benghazi.
Citizen_X
Robert, of Geneva, Alabama: Balloon Juice has just declared WAR! on you.
me
@low-tech cyclist:
Also, much venice.
Amir Khalid
When I first saw the name Dogecoin, I thought it had something to do with a Duke, since doge is an old Italian word for duke. How disappointing to learn that it’s only a rival of Bitcoin.
Xecky Gilchrist
waitwaitwait
Nascar still exists?
Pogonip
@Xecky Gilchrist: I just found out AOL still exists.
BruinKid
@me: Sounds like some kind of Internet version of a Rube Goldberg contraption.